Luke 9:23 & 24 –
(23) Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me. (24) If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.”
This is one of those verses people who are “gung ho” for Jesus use to make many of us feel inadequate. If you really think about what Jesus is asking it’s intense. You have “prosperity preachers” who say “ask and you shall receive” but dismiss the cross bearing. Today we look at the cross as freedom, so bearing it is easy. Then the cross was an instrument of torture and death and therefore a different kind of burden to carry.
As we saw in the parable of the seeds, the one thrown in the thorns got choked out by “other things.“ Today we tend to drift towards “stuff” and lose the connection God desires with us. Technology is great for getting information but it also stresses our time with God. Stuff tends to take our focus off Him and onto the “better things” in life. For the techno-Apple geeks, how many are wanting the white iPhone G4? Knowing that a G5 (or other name) is on the horizon? We have gone in less than 200 years from simple “needs” to complex “needs”.
Sure technology is great, but it really muddies up the “give up your life and take up the cross” thing. Sure we need to follow God, but I can reach more people with this iMac and tumblr blog site while using my iPhone to keep it “fresh” during the day. Now only does this muddy up our “work” here on earth, but it definitely hurts our relationship with God. One could argue that technology is a product of the minds God gave us, while on the other hand it’s a product of the devil to separate us from God. You must decide where it is for you!